Dens228

What county are you in? State Parks are closed by state order. They have left the rest up to each individual county.

If you are in Illinois all parks and public waters are NOT closed. State parks are, some counties have closed their lots but you can still access by foot. Cook county has closed a couple of entire preserves because people are having parties and not observing the social distancing. Most Cook are still open. Due to the shut down I'm currently not working and have fished about 10 times the last two weeks. This includes talking to both municipal and conservation police on two separate occasions. Both times the sole topic was them asking me how the fishing was. Up here Lake, Kane, and DuPage Forest preserves are all open. Wednesday I'm going to a public lake by Bloomington. I'm just trying to let you know that you are not prohibited from fishing or taking the kayak out. Whether or not a person does is a personal choice.

Thank you!

I use 20 lb PP on my treble hook rods......I've never had a problem with it. I also wouldn't go lighter.

I absolutely love using jigs...... What style of trailer keeper does he use? Barb? Screw lock?

Stick to your plan, close to cover. I was in the same situation this time last year. Changed my plan, the guy who stuck to his plan, which matched mine, won. Lesson learned.

I was always fairly successful setting the hook on frogs and then all of a sudden last year I couldn't hook one up to save my life. I switched to a smaller bodied frog, the Jackall Kaera, and my hook up ratio skyrocketed. Maybe something to try.

Improved clinch knot.

I have three of them and love them. Depending on the price I wouldn't hesitate to pick some up if you have the chance.

Even though I have a Bixby motor on my kayak I tend to sit with the paddle across my lap when I'm fishing as I prefer it for small position adjustments or short distance movement while working an area. Until this year I never used a paddle leash and when I'd catch a fish and got it to the boat I'd put the paddle in the clip while doing whatever I needed to do with the fish such as a photo for CPR tourneys or just photos for fun. It wasn't difficult most of the time but depending on net, rod, hooks, etc sometimes it took a bit longer. Now that my paddle is tethered to the kayak I just toss it over the side out of the way.....I can't believe it took me this long to figure out. LOL

I read a lot about fishing reservoirs and lakes and the differences. I fish a lot of quarries, both pit and strip. Would that be considered a reservoir? It seems the characteristics are closer than to a lake.

I like 6th Sense jigs but really don't like the screw on trailer keepers. Just personal preference.

In Illinois! I don't think you'd believe me! LOL

I always go opposite sides.

I use 30 lb straight braid.

I'm also a Dirty Jigs guy. 3/8 and 1/2 oz. I use 3.8 and 4.3 Kietech Swing Impact Fat paddletails. I switch back and forth between the various shad and the bluegill color schemes with the jig. I think I only have 3 or 4 colors. For the Keitechs I have Sungill, Pro Blue Red Pearl, and Tennessee Shad. That seems to be all I need. I'm not a million different colors kind of guy. I will dip a tail in JJ's Dippin Dye, chartreuse every once in awhile though. I ALWAYS have a swim jig tied on. By far my confidence bait.

My new ride. A Bonafide SS127. The Bixby motor isn't attached to the rudder in any of these pictures but you can see the battery attached to the front of the crate. I think I have it all set up how I like it.......famous last words. LOL

My buddy always told me he only needs plastic worms. One time we were out in our kayaks and he told me he's out of worms. I said how is that? He said he only brought four..........lol So I gave him some of mine while I caught fish on crankbaits. Fast forward a month or so and he takes me to a lake he fishes all the time but in a regular boat. We head to the docks and he says all I need is a plastic worm. We aren't catching a thing so I switch to a swim jig/paddletail and start catching fish. After about 5 or 6 bass he finally asks me what I'm using. He lasted longer than I thought he would. I gave him one and he started catching. When it slowed down I threw a crank and caught a few more. He brings more than four plastic worms now.

I don't think I've ever caught a bass with red......other than red flake in plastics like mentioned above. I tried today too, no luck.

It was a MH/Moderate.

Look at the St. Croix BassX. But actually hold it in your hands. I find them a little lighter than their rating so you may want to adjust upwards to get the feel you want.

I can honestly say I've never even considered IPT when making a reel choice.......

My rod is an even 7 ft also. I probably use a shad type color 95% of the time. Some times with flash.

To be honest I've never handled the SpecR. I will say that I've had no issues whatsoever with a weightless plastic on the Brailist though. Would it be the best? Probably not. I don't use a lot of weightless plastics, if I did I would probably use either a Flatside Special, which I currently have for cranks, or a Swingfire due to the action. But like I said, for my purposes the Braillist serves me well.